Concrete plans needed for Cop 26: von der Leyen

Climate ambitions need to be backed by concrete plans at the UN Cop 26 climate conference in Glasgow, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said today.

Von der Leyen noted steps in the "right" direction, including China's announcement to stop building coal-fired generation assets abroad and the commitment by US president Joe Biden to double US international climate finance for developing countries.

"Something is finally moving in the world's major economies. And Europe will continue to engage, with the highest level of ambition," said von der Leyen, speaking at a conference on sustainable finance today. She added that "team" Europe remains the leading donor to international climate finance and contributes $25bn/yr for low and middle-income countries. "Yet there is still an investment gap to close. And we all need to step up," she said. She repeated a promise to commit an additional €4bn ($4.7bn) of EU climate finance as a total over 2021-27.

Von der Leyen was speaking after the EU's council of ministers finally set the bloc's formal overarching mandate for negotiations at Cop 26, which leaves much leeway for the bloc's negotiators at the summit in Glasgow from 31 October-12 November.

EU finance ministers on 5 October restated the bloc's and individual member states' commitment to scaling up international climate finance to jointly mobilise €100bn/yr through to 2025 from a "wide variety" of sources and for "meaningful mitigation actions". No doubt mindful of US president Biden's promise to double international climate finance, EU finance ministers also recall that the EU and its member states are the largest contributors and have more than doubled their international public climate finance since 2013.

On Article 6 of the Paris agreement, which will set rules for international carbon trading and be a key area for negotiations at Cop 26, environment ministers on 6 October called for voluntary carbon markets that are "consistent with the necessary increased global ambition and the achievement of climate neutrality, and that avoid double counting and lock in to high-emissions pathways". Article 6 provisions should also promote sustainable development, ensure environmental integrity and ambition, as well as address risks such as "non-permanence" of carbon cuts or sequestration and "leakage" from projects.

Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe said the conclusions are "good enough", notably as EU ministers after many years of resistance back a five-year timeframe for countries' nationally determined contributions to the Paris agreement to be implemented from 2031. But ministers still back this five-year period "only in case all parties would be required to do so" and if completed in a manner "consistent" with the bloc's own European climate law.

A 10-year timeframe for emissions reduction targets would be "unacceptable" and undermine global ambition, said Sven Harmeling, CAN Europe's international climate policy co-ordinator. Harmeling added that the mandates for EU negotiators set out by finance and environment ministers are high level and intentionally leave EU negotiators room to manoeuvre.

Harmeling noted the repetition of previous climate finance commitments made by EU ministers, even if there is positive wording in the finance ministers' conclusions on Cop 26 encouraging countries to "enhance" their mitigation efforts through "ambitious baseline methodologies" and new mechanisms that do "not dilute" the ambition of the Paris deal.

"But it is still not clear what specific steps the EU and its member states will take on financial pledges. We really need to know the €100bn goal for international climate finance for developing countries will be reached," Harmeling said.

For NGO Carbon Market Watch (CMW), the EU could do more to promote environmental integrity during international carbon market negotiations. "Carbon markets do not contribute significantly to climate action unless they move past the idea of compensation and offsetting," said Gilles Dufrasne, who follows UN carbon market negotiations for CMW. "Markets must deliver real reductions and real benefits for the climate. The EU should support this and promote a system to go beyond zero-sum offsetting."

The European Parliament, which ratified the Paris agreement for the EU in 2016, later this month will vote on its position for Cop 26. EU lawmaker Jytte Guteland is calling for the bloc to double international climate financing. And she wants China to stop all investment in coal-fired power plants both abroad and domestically.

By Dafydd ab Iago